My Future Reflections

My Future Reflections

A Portrait of a Hispanic Artist: from the lens of a camera. It does take an artist’s eye to find a great subject of photography.

What are the things that identify each of us as unique? A photo has the ability to stop time and share a moment forever. It is an escape into a moment in time. Nothing can be hidden from the lens of a camera. It exposes a certain truth and shows an object, place, or person exactly as they are - simplistic and beautiful.

My passion and love has always been the arts. And as I look back, I have been telling my stories through art, which is to make a brave personal investigation into my individual soul. Through my art I attempt to collect an array of individual moments that tell a story.

I have the utmost admiration and enthusiasm for the art of photography. The ability to capture and share an emotion is priceless. I am a visual artist by training. I have been working with several artists’ tools since I can remember. Recently, my art has ventured into virtual reality, where I can be anyone I want to be rather than who others want me to be. Yet, my interest in photography and video still persists.

Throughout the larger field of story-based digital media, there seem to be two widely shared assumptions. One is that, in order to be compelling, digital story-based experiences must enable the user to make significant choices that alter the outcome of the story. A second assumption is that digital media are revolutionary and therefore that the techniques and practices of such earlier media as film and stage production are no longer relevant.

Images have been used to tell stories for thousands of years. But few of us have actually entered a computer-generated, three-dimensional landscape in which all of our wishes can be fulfilled. Such as experiencing an expansion of our physical and sensory powers; getting out of the body and seeing ourselves from the outside; adopting a new identity. As we have found in our own work with digital video, digital media give artists a richer and more flexible palette for creativity. One might say that I have finally found my passion in life thru multimedia. After seeking more education in the realm of multimedia.

In addition, I have been using and exploring other areas from computers to various technology where I’ve had the opportunity to be exposed to a full range of computer graphic design courses in technical communications, and web development. I earned certificate in Dynamic Web Site Programming from the department of computer science and a Bachelor of Arts in the individualized degree program with an emphasis in corporate media development from Metropolitan State College of Denver.

Between, 1980-82, I moved to Leadville to pursue an (AA) in Creative Photography. Later in 1987-1991 I returned to get my first (BS) in Mass Communication, with an emphasis in broadcasting, minor art. I worked in the broadcast field for fourteen years prior to returning to school. Whereby, in these settings, I gained experience in several areas. Although, the broadcast industry the past fourteen years had given me the opportunity to gain many valuable and disciplined skills, the creative expression had been very limited. Therefore, I was forced to seek more education and explore other avenues in order to express my creative talents and abilities.

Futures Forecast – Life Five Years from Now

What if my virtual time capsule to the future was not from the past, but from the future? The future doesn't just happen; people create it through their action, or inaction. And perhaps, if we examine the facts carefully, we might gain a better understanding of where we've come from, and perhaps even where we're headed. More importantly, we can actively decide how we will live in the future, by making choices today and realizing the consequences of our decisions.

My future considerations to be placed in time capsules would be to cherish our memories, so we don’t forget. For this reason I think I'd like to upload a media stream to be stored for future use, of images from the real-world where participants can watch and reflect on past memories and ideas that we wish to preserve, by highlighting the culture of generosity that once existed before losing our personal connections.

I predict what awaits us in the future, is that the internet is going to improve and reach more people, from the far ends of the world. Important trends are already visible, reflecting how it has dramatically reshaped the way people interact through social media.

As the world changes so quickly it's hard to keep up. For example, it seems time flies especially when you get older, while I was growing up the big thing was typewriters, 8 tracks, and vinyl albums. Now the new inventions and innovations alter the way we live. People's values, attitudes, and beliefs are changing. As the pace of change keeps accelerating, making it difficult to prepare for tomorrow. But by studying the future, people can better anticipate what lays a head.

So what happens five years from now? It’s a new experience for me to gather and reflect on but an interesting one. The entries here represent some of the best of my efforts from the full range of classes that I have taken. Of course, there is vision; five years into the future, I would like to see myself in terms of a career, designing and developing digital instructional tools; on the internet through games, virtual reality, and streaming media, for corporate, government, nonprofit, and higher education.

Ultimately, I see this degree as a great opportunity in itself, as well as a professional stepping-stone, which will provide me with the practical training, literature and experience, which I am eager to acquire.

Changing Practices in the Delivery of Higher Education

I can see the Internet entirely three-dimensional in the near future? VR will play an increasingly important role in our life as we move towards the future. Today VR technology is still in its early stages, and there are damaging flaws, like graphic. But since computing power has increased we should have a computer powerful enough to run VR programs.

We now have thousands of examples of digital, 3D virtual environments, accessed by the familiar computer interfaces that are emerging, changing academic methods and practices to advance eLearning. Academics have only recently begun to intensively study the social dynamics of virtual worlds, but some say they are astonished by how closely virtual relationships mirror real life.

Second Life gives both students and faculty a new medium (education-based information technology, or EBIT), for exploring things like lecture, discussion, and hands-on participation, distance learning, experiential learning, simulation, and scientific visualization in a fundamentally collaborative environment.

Second Life is a digital world that relies on a unique combination of grid computing and streaming technology; and higher education institutes are advancing their online teaching methods by offering a platform for instruction. The virtual world is already being used at 125 colleges, universities, and schools worldwide. About 2,600 educators working in SL have also registered to use the Second Life Educators Forum available on this independent website.

Other tools like software applications, computer hardware technologies, and web-based information are commonplace in classrooms, and it is apparent that technology used in the classroom can make a difference in student learning.

Tools and Technologies
The uncertainties surrounding the convergence of old and new approaches to teaching, learning, literacy, and participation empowered by technology will continue to challenge us on many cultural fronts.

As personalized presented news started to get popular with the spread and development of various online services 30 years ago, the increase in television over the internet in the past decade, with digital “real” people presenters have become the most popular way to consume news.

Therefore, the growth of digital media is no surprise. Communicating one’s thoughts to other people has always been an important function of humans. These great new digital technologies offer a bright future for communication through social media.

Also, digital media is playing an increasingly large role in all purchase decisions, and certain target audiences are becoming increasingly difficult to reach without digital tools. Thus Digital media is already forcing the industry to develop viable business models for the Internet. The Web and media will evolve over the next 40-50 years, which does make you think about where the Web is headed? The transmission of ideas is a very powerful thing; which will change the way we communicate, and the way we live, learn and do business, just as all the other media did that came before it.

Reflecting Thoughts

I found this experience incredibly thought provoking, as I
had to picture how to use modern tools or new technology which seems to change every 2 years. Since we do live in such a world, I think putting together this essay showed me the most important lesson.

Everyone a story, and my story have been to understand where I am now and helps lead me to the paths I might choose in the future. Up to this moment, my day-to-day activities revolve around two things, my work and more importantly my studies. While the life I wish to have is better today, struggles are inevitable. My lifestyle in the future shall not be the case without my lifestyle today. I believe God has a good plan for me; I just need to be patient and be strong for years to come. In the meantime, all I can say today is that this is uniquely my story which makes me proud of the kind of student I’ve become, and that my skills will let me build the life I hope to have “Five years from now… Five years from now.”

The future is uncertain, but one thing is sure: It won't be boring. As I look forward I am not sure yet exactly which role will be the best “fit” for me. But my aim is to provide an engaging and easy-to-use tool that will encourage these moments of self-reflection, and a basic foundation whereby I shall recognize and come to value my own personal power, worth, wisdom, and insight.